What to do about Yassine?

When the Washington Post ran its piece entitled: Feud With King Tests Freedoms In Morocco, I naturally went to have a look. It turned out to be a rerun of all the old stories about Nadia Yassine. Nadia is becoming a bit of a folk hero because of articles like this and so maybe it is time for a reality check.

The Post article opened with a real tug at the heartstrings.

The monarchy in this North African country dates back 1,200 years and has survived foreign invaders, civil wars and communist plots. Now it is confronted by a new threat: a grandmother who preaches nonviolence and democracy.

But as Laila Lalami who writes the Moorishgirl blog points out:

The grandmother bit sounds absolutely charming until you find out that they're actually talking about Nadia Yassine, the opportunistic public figure of the Islamist group Justice and Charity. Yassine claims she wants democracy, but she has, in fact, campaigned against legal reforms to grant women equal rights under the law. The reforms went ahead without her.

Fortunately the Post article was a balanced piece of writing and if you hadn't been seduced by the sweet grandmother at the head of the piece you soon discovered that not all viewed Yassine with such affection...

Some who have fought hard for Morocco's emerging democracy said they have had to grit their teeth as Yassine's trial has unfolded.

"This is really infuriating for people who have fought for women's rights and democracy," said Latifah Jbabdi, president of the Union for Feminist Action, a Rabat-based group that has tangled with Justice and Charity. "She knows the new king is moving toward democracy, but that's not where the fundamentalists want to go. The bottom line is that they want an Islamic state. They want ayatollah power in Morocco. We cannot go there."

Justice and Charity was founded by Yassine's father, Abdessalam Yassine, a cleric who adheres to Islam's Sufi branch and who has spoken admiringly of the Iranian revolution and has been called Morocco's version of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The movement is banned from participation in national politics, but its existence is tolerated by the government and it is considered perhaps the most potent popular force in the country.

Yassine is a headache and dealing with her will be tricky. As the Washington Post pointed out by quoting Prince Moulay Hicham, who is second in line to the throne... "The survival of the monarchy itself will ultimately depend on its capacity to weather adverse opinion, however extreme it might be"

When it comes to the thorny question of what to do about Yassine, Moorish Girl summed up the feelings of most moderate Moroccans when she wrote:

...silencing her only makes her sound more interesting than she really is, i.e. someone who has absolutely no viable program for the future.

Laila Lalami is a fellow novelist and so I watch her blog with interest. You will find it here. Moorish Girl

Her post on Yassine is here: La Yassine is Back

Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news